The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service today announced the availability of
the final implementation schedule for the South Florida Multi-Species Recovery
Plan.

The plan, issued in 1999, summarized the best available scientific and
commercial information about the 68 endangered species located in south
Florida and the Service’s plan for their recovery. The implementation
schedule addresses only the 42 species for which the South Florida Ecological
Services Office in Vero Beach has lead recovery responsibility. The implementation
schedule, divided into nine biological communities, indicates the priority,
time frame for completion, project participants, and, where possible, the
estimated cost for each of the recovery tasks identified in the plan.

Copies of the implementation schedule and the MSRP are available from the South
Florida Ecological Services Office Web site http://www.fws.gov/verobeach or
by contacting the office at 772/562-3909 and requesting a printed or CD-ROM version.

“We will continue to review our recovery plan and update it, if appropriate,
keeping in mind our goal is to recover these 42 species of endangered or threatened
animals and plants,” said Cindy Schulz, Vero Beach supervisory fish and
wildlife biologist.

The implementation schedule was produced by members of the Multi-species/Ecosystem
Recovery Implementation Team or MERIT and biologists from the Vero Beach
office. MERIT is composed of representatives from federal, state, and
local government agencies, tribal officials, scientists, industrial leaders,
and the private sector.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible
for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their
habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service
manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System comprised
of more than 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of wetlands, and
other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries,
64 fish and wildlife management offices, and 78 ecological services field
stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the
Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores
nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat
such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation
efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds
of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment
to State fish and wildlife agencies.